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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7808149" data-attributes="member: 29398">If this was the case, wouldn't the ability be written up as part of the monster?You must have read my mind, as it's a particular shock-staff* in KotS - wielded by a Hobgoblin, I think - that's always been my go-to example for this.I assume the shocking is being done by the staff as that's how the write-up parsed when I read it.Sure, and if that was given as part of the story in the module as to what makes that item tick that'd be great.  But is it?  If it's not given in the module, how many DMs are likely to add something like this to an item's backstory?  I'd wager very few indeed.When writing up an opponent for a module the writer really needs to take a few basic things into consideration.  The shock-staff, for instance: can the Hobgoblin still do (or even attempt?) the shock effect without the staff if he gets disarmed?  If yes, then this needs to be made clear.  If no, then the ability comes from the staff itself unless some other explanation is provided - which it isn't.Yep, this works sometimes...but to do it every time would be a bit much. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />* - I ran KotS (converted to our modified 1e system) in early 2009 and the party came out with that shock-staff in their treasury; and ten real-world years later that thing is still booting around in my game world somewhere (though I can't for the life of me remember which character has it these days).</blockquote>

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